Patient transport systems facilitate care of patients in a health care setting. Patient transport systems comprise patient transport apparatuses such as, for example, hospital beds and stretchers, to move patients between locations. A conventional patient transport apparatus comprises a base, a patient support surface, and several support wheels, such as four swiveling caster wheels. Often, the patient transport apparatus has one or more non-swiveling auxiliary wheels, in addition to the four caster wheels. The auxiliary wheels, by virtue of their non-swiveling nature, are employed to help control movement of the patient transport apparatus over a floor surface in certain situations.
When a caregiver wishes to use the auxiliary wheels to help control movement of the patient transport apparatus, such as down long hallways or around corners, the caregiver moves the auxiliary wheels from a stowed position, out of contact with the floor surface, to a deployed position in contact with the floor surface. However, if a normal force acting on the auxiliary wheels is too high (e.g., a load carried by the auxiliary wheels is too high), one pair of the caster wheels may lift off the ground and the patient transport apparatus may teeter-totter on the auxiliary wheels. Alternatively, if the normal force is too low (e.g., the load carried by the auxiliary wheels is too low), the auxiliary wheels may slip on the floor surface when the patient transport apparatus is being moved, such as when maneuvering around a corner.
A patient transport apparatus designed to overcome one or more of the aforementioned challenges is desired.